And on it goes. England guarantee that they’ll play the maximum amount of games in a World Cup by making the semi-final. It’s one of the most surprising things to happen in the time we’ve been doing the podcast and, frankly, we are giddy.

There was another game too, as the mighty England’s opponents need to be decided. Russia bow out having had a memorable tournament in a game full of surprising expectations, excellent goals, ratty goals and misjudged dinks.

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Further reading

Chris Waddle gets emotional:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44752000

Russia’s dream comes to an end:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/08/russia-world-cup-exit-proud-croatia-penalties

And what of Croatia?

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/five-things-england-learned-about-croatia-before-world-cup-semi-final-a8436791.html

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tactical whizz man Roberto Martinez masterminded an impressive win over Brazil as Belgium show what they’re made of, while France continued to do exactly what they need to do, giving the terrifying impression that they’re hiding the true scale of their power. Also Hugh Lloris got a dragon fly in his mouth. Urgh. 

Elsewhere Gary Neville has some interesting moments, there’s an alternative view of Mark Lawrenson and an update from our beloved Stewart Donaldson. If that still isn’t enough for you then we also look ahead to a couple of games that are taking place this afternoon…

This show is sponsored by bet365

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected]

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Further reading

Alan Shearer isn’t happy with Neymar:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44748245

Roberto Martinez, tactical genius:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/brazil-vs-belgium-world-cup-2018-kevin-de-bruyne-goal-highlights-replay-roberto-martinez-tactics-how-a8435616.html

How England should approach Sweden:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/06/three-things-england-get-right-defeat-sweden-world-cup-quarter-final

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well! We are through the looking glass now, people. England won a penalty shoot out and are into the quarter finals after a yellow card-laden battle against Colombia. All of our aunts are giddy as we try to rap our heads and croaky throats around it. 

Sweden also played a Roger Federer-less Switzerland, and though that was nowhere near as good there’s still plenty of fun to be had in discussing it. 

Warning: contains distressing, Ian Botham-related content. 

This show is sponsored by bet365

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected]

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Further reading

Jose Pekerman thinks England were dirty:

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12098/11425618/colombia-manager-jose-pekerman-angry-at-england-players-after-world-cup-defeat

Michael Cox on Gareth Southgate’s tactics:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/england-vs-colombia-penalty-shootout-video-watch-tactics-gareth-southgate-a8430156.html

The Swedes are confident:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/04/swedish-media-reaction-england-sweden-quarterfinal-world-cup-russia

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yet more scenes so unbelievable that we all need to accept that this World Cup is crazy as Belgium come from two down to beat a spirited Japan, with super subs Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli. Prior to the game a hitherto successful psychic octopus was killed in Japan. Makes you think. 

Alongside this there’s time to look over Neymar’s theatrics, Brazil’s stoic professionalism and we of course take the opportunity to look ahead to England vs Colombia, and even a little further, as we get a little carried away while we have the chance. 

This show is sponsored by bet365

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected]

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Further reading

Everybody hates Neymar:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44689926

Psychic Japanese octopus eaten:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/world-cup-2018-psychic-octopus-dead-rabio-japan-seafood-predictions-correct-a8426986.html

Fellaini and Chadli provide squad freshness:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/02/marouane-fellaini-nacer-chadli-fringes-belgium-hazard-flatters

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even when this World Cup is bad it’s brilliant! We look back on two games that managed to have very little and absolutely loads going on at once as Russia and Croatia send Spain and Denmark home. 

Elsewhere there’s advice for Pete’s sunburn, yoghurt themed of course, Mexico go for glory, and Antoine Griezmann seems to get mind games badly wrong.

This show is sponsored by bet365

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected]

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Further reading

They’re having a good time in Russia:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44677631

Andres Iniesta bids farewell:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/andres-iniesta-spain-world-cup-2018-retires-international-football-russia-penalty-shootout-a8425861.html

Big licks from David Ospina:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/01/david-ospina-colombia-fans-not-fear-england

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And so the knockout stages started as well as the group stages promised. An all-time classic from France and Argentina, and a hard-fought Uruguayan victory over Portugal set an incredibly high standard and we say keep it coming. 

There’s also Pete going on about aspect ratios, more England flies, and plenty to look forward to as the tourney keeps rolling on… 

This show is sponsored by bet365

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected]

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Further reading

The latest on Edinson Cavani’s injury:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44671242

Christian Eriksen vs Luka Modric:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/world-cup-2018-christian-eriksen-luka-modric-croatia-vs-denmark-knockout-stages-a8424941.html

Some of the lesser known players who’ve made an impact so far:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/01/world-cup-players-premier-league-colombia

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So, there’s no football today. It’s so weird. However, nature abhors a vacuum so we’ve got a podcast full of it anyway. 

We look back over England and Belgium’s strange, somewhat empty battle for top/second spot, Japan’s self-flagellation regarding their slightly ironic qualification via fair play and bid a fond farewell to some of the characters we’ll miss from a brilliant World Cup group stage. 

On top of all this we also have an update on the various Marci who are still in the competition, plot England’s route to glory and turn our attention to the last 16. It’s business time…

This show is sponsored by bet365

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected]

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Further reading

Michy Batshuayi’s embarrassing moment: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44649247

Gareth keeps it in house:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/world-cup-2018-england-belgium-gareth-southgate-changes-colombia-a8422221.html

Akira Nishino is not happy about how things played out for Japan:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/28/japan-poland-senegal-world-cup

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Woo hoo! It turns out that very, very occasionally you can write off the Germans, and we at the Football Ramble are happy to embrace this opportunity mere hours before they play FIFA's third-ranked team. Hubris. 

Mitro's on Newcastle United form rather than Fulham's – basically on the wrong kind of fire. Brazil showed their cupboard of pristine cogs and gears to the world, and Marcus doesn't want to talk about Felipe Baloy. 

This show is sponsored by bet365 

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected] 

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** 

Further reading: 

How Germany’s media reacted to their exit: 

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/germany-out-world-cup-2018-media-joachim-low-next-manager-bild-die-welt-a8420646.html 

Looking back to the last time England and Belgium met in a World Cup: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44603330 

Part one of the Kendall Waston documentary: 

https://youtu.be/ENbHokSKO_M

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dynamic player-management duo of Lionel Messi and a bleedy Javier Mascherano saw Argentina through the group after a scare. Was it ever in doubt? Yes. Yes it was. 

Alongside this there’s gushing over Croatia, scorn for France and Denmark as they provide the tournament’s first 0-0, and some odd chat about bones. Also, Luke writes off the Germans again, which is probably as close to a spoiler as you can get in a World Cup. Get involved, you Squares. 

This show is sponsored by bet365

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected]

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Further reading

Michael Cox on the importance of Ever Banega:

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/argentina-nigera-world-cup-2018-lionel-messi-jorge-sampaoli-a8418621.html

Peru’s emotional reaction to their win:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44623008

England look likely to pick a strong team against Belgium:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/26/harry-kane-set-to-start-england-group-decider-belgium-world-cup

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back to mash buttons, chat bitrates and harness the power of sexiness! Group B ended in chaotic fashion and we look back on it with fond memories. Farewell, old friend. 

Glancing further around the tourney we feel for poor Mo Salah, postulate on the merits of Argentina using Lionel Messi as an impact sub in an intriguing Group D, and delight in a surprise appearance from Scatman Speller.

This show is sponsored by bet365

Search ‘Football Ramble’ on social media to find us, and email us here: [email protected]

***Please take the time to rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!***

Further reading

Jorge Valdano on Argentina’s failings: 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/25/argentina-what-is-wrong-lionel-messi-football

Iran try to sabotage Ronnie’s sleep:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44605426

Will Mo Salah retire from International football?

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/mo-salah-quitting-egypt-russia-world-cup-2018-chechnya-football-government-kadyrov-a8416356.html

The Football Ramble, the original and best football podcast. No cliches. No ex-pros like Peter Crouch or The Rest is Football. Just the funniest football conversation out there. Your guardian for the season, daily not weekly. Stick to the Ramble, totally. Choose the Ramble vs everyone else.

Brand new podcasts every single weekday throughout the Premier League and Champions League season, covering Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Spurs. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.